Change
by rem was here
Summary: Subject: Mikan Sakura. Objective: Figure out how she is able to leave two of the academy's most handsome guys utterly smitten. NxMxR. Two-shot.
1. Chapter One

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◦◦**C**◦**H**◦**A**◦**N**◦**G**◦**E**◦◦  
**Chapter One  
**_By: xll KUROI TSUBASA llx_

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**DISCLAIMER: **Is this even necessary? Everyone knows that I don't own Gakuen Alice; Higuchi-sensei does.

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"Just where the heck has that kimono gone to?"

The girl searched her closet, determined to find what she was looking for. After several minutes, she finally got up holding an orange furisode embroidered with cherry blossoms in one hand and her golden obi in the other hand. Her former irritated expression turned into that of sheer happiness as she finally found the item she was looking for. But it didn't last long because once she turned her back, she faced with the huge pile of clothes that she had left in disarray just a moment ago.

"Eh? I've created such a big mess!" she exclaimed, eyes wide while staring at the objects that she had thrown about in her quest to find her beloved kimono.

The girl placed the objects that she was holding on her study table – the only thing in her room that wasn't littered with clothes and began to pick up the clothes that adorned her room. She picked them up one by one, folded them neatly and carefully placed the clothes back to their respective places with a huge smile on her face. After all that, she glanced at the clock by her bedside and saw that it was already quarter past three

"Oh no! I'm going to be late!" she said as she rushed towards the bathroom and began to take a shower.

As she did so, she remembered her first days in the academy- the days when she had to work hard to prove herself worthy of being an Alice, those days when she didn't even have a single star. But after 2 years... Wait wasn't it 3? Oh what the heck. The point is that she's already a three star student. After the discovery that she possesses rare Alices that could be important assets to the academy, the faculty and higher-ups deemed that it was just fitting that she should achieve a higher rank. Besides, it turned out that she really does deserve the rank when people began to notice that she really wasn't that stupid after all, just a late bloomer. Gradually, she got better in her academics to the point that even the _great_ Jinno-sensei slightly and when I say slightly, I really do mean slightly acknowledged her tremendous progress. But aside from that, almost nothing has changed in the life of the brunette. Her supposed best friend, Hotaru, still bullied her. Even though she had gotten much better in academics, she still is the same klutzy brunette that everyone knew. There wasn't a day that she didn't trip on her own feet and you could often find her arguing with a certain raven-haired boy because he _coincidentally_ happens to pass by whenever she trips and displays her underwear for all people to see. Moreover, she's still naïve and oblivious to everyone. Despite spending all those time with the boys who were secretly in love with her, she never figured out their true feelings towards her. See, nothing much has changed.

After taking a bath, she wiped herself dry with a pink towel, opened the door leading to her room and then put on her kimono. She stood in front of the mirror and admired herself. The kimono fitted her perfectly! She twirled around once, happily admiring herself. The kimono really suited her! It was a perfect combination for her brown hair and hazel eyes!

The girl began to comb her long silky hair. She was about to tie it into her usual pigtails when she remembered something.

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_A few weeks ago, she sat under the shade of a big tree thinking deeply. But her thoughts were disturbed by a familiar voice._

"_Hey ugly."_

'_I know that voice. And there's only one person in the academy who calls me ugly.' she thought as her confused expression turned to that of annoyance._

_She turned to the direction of the origin of the voice and saw a boy with naturally messy back hair and piercing crimson eyes staring directly at her atop another tree. Just as she thought, it was HIM._

"_I have a name, you know!" she said irately._

_The boy didn't answer back. Instead, he simply jumped down from the tree and headed towards her._

"_Were you actually thinking back then, idiot? You should be careful. Your head might explode if you think too much, especially with that brain capacity of yours..." the boy started teasing her the moment he got down from the tree._

_She made a face at the boy once he finally caught up with her_

"_You're so mean. You still say that even though know that my grades aren't that bad anymore" she said, pouting._

_The two walked together towards the school building – the middle school building to be exact. A few months had already passed since they first entered middle school. As the brunette thought about this, she began to have flashbacks of the years she spent in the academy but her thoughts were once again cut off by her companion._

"_Dammit! Are you deaf?" he sounded really annoyed._

"_Wha-what is it Natsume?" she asked feeling a bit confused and alarmed at the same time._

"_Tch. You really are hopeless. Not only are you stupid but you're deaf too." He said casually_

_She was about to retort however, before she could even move her lips, her companion began to talk once again. His voice turned deep and his expression became serious. It was as if what he was going to say was really important_

"_You know, those pigtails don't suit you."_

_That does it! She thought he was going to say something nice and relevant for a change but nooo... He started insulting her again! He was always like this – so infuriating!_

"_Well I'm sorry if I'm that ugly to -"_

_But before she could finish that statement, fire had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and elicited a scream from her_

_Now that does it. That jerk was definitely going to pay. She whirled around to face the cause of her distress, while thinking of all the possible methods that she could use to hurt Natsume. However, what she didn't expect was that she'll get trapped from the smoldering gaze of the said offender instead. _

"_Just leave your hair down like this. It's much better. If not, try putting it in a ponytail." the crimson-eyed boy said before finally breaking their eye contact and turning around to walk back towards the middle school building once again._

_After a few moments of silent awkwardness, the girl called for the boy's attention._

"_Natsume-kun..."_

_The boy stopped walking and turned to face her._

"_Ano... thank you... I'll try what you just said... when I get the chance." she said with a smile and slightly flushed cheeks._

"_..."_

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And that was what happened a few weeks ago.

'I guess I could try out what Natsume said. It wouldn't really do me any harm if I do. Besides, he seemed so sincere that time.' she thought.

So the thirteen-year-old girl combed her damp hair once again and tied it into a neat ponytail using an orange scrunchie adorned with jeweled flowers.

The girls smiled at her reflection in the mirror and twirled once again. Natsume was right. It did look good on her.

She searched for her pink handbag, wallet, and a handkerchief and before going out of her room, she glanced at her alarm clock. It was already 4 o'clock. She vaguely remembered that she had promised her two friends, Hotaru and Iincho-kun, earlier that week that she would meet them outside her room at exactly that time. Even though the festival proper would only start at five, the three friends decided to go to Central Town (the festival venue) an hour before so that they could check how the festival preparations were going on.

When she got out of the room, she immediately spotted her two companions waiting for her in the hallway.

"Hotaru-chan!" she yelled out excitedly as she ran towards her friend with jet black hair and stoic amethyst eyes and was garbed in a blue kimono decorated with lavender polka dots by the edges and a silver obi.

But before she could even get near her friend, Hotaru used the baka gun on her.

"Hey that hurts Hotaru... Why do you always do that to me? I was only trying to hug you." she complained with a pout as she tried to stand up.

"That's the reason why I use it, you idiot. It's because you don't have any self control." Hotaru said in her monotone voice.

"You're so mean."

But Hotaru didn't seem to pay any attention to what the girl was saying but instead she handed her a nicely wrapped package.

"Happy Birthday, Mikan." Hotaru said with a smile.

Upon seeing the package, Mikan became teary-eyed. Obviously, she was touched by Hotaru's gesture.

"You remembered." she said as tears started to spill onto her cheeks.

"Of course I did, stupid. Now stop crying."

Mikan then took the gift, wiped off her tears, thanked Hotaru and then turned to hug her best friend. This time, Hotaru didn't budge and even hugged back.

After Mikan released Hotaru from her tight embrace, Yuu turned to greet her and then gave his present as well. He was wearing a russet haori over his beige kimono and was beaming at Mikan as he handed her his present.

Actually, Mikan's birthday was still tomorrow – New Year's Day but her two friends always did this on the day before her birthday. But Mikan, well, being Mikan always gets surprised every time her two close friends do this even though it has already been their yearly routine.

"You look wonderful Mikan-chan. And your hair... This style suits you much better." Yuu complimented with his unusual kindness right after Mikan accepted his present

"Thank you" Mikan said, blushing. She was really flattered that her friend noticed the change she has done.

"Please wait or me for a while. I'll just leave your gifts on my drawer. I'll be back in a sec." she said as she headed back to her room.

After placing the presents that her friends gave her in her drawer, Mikan went out once again. This time, the first person she saw was Natsume, who had coincidentally passed by the front of her room just at exactly the same time she had opened the door. The two just stood there, staring at each other until a boy with blond hair and steel-blue eyes interrupted their strange trance.

"Hey. " Natsume greeted as he removed his gaze from the girl and turned towards their new companion. The other boy smiled in reply.

"Hi Ruka-pyon!" Mikan greeted the boy with her usual enthusiasm.

As the boy turned towards his jolly friend, he began to blush a bit but Mikan was oblivious to this and continued smiling. Natsume on the other hand seemed to notice this change in his friend and gave him a sideward glance.

"Hi." he greeted the girl back.

Upon noticing that Natsume and Ruka were also dressed in their kimonos and haoris instead of their school uniform, Mikan realized that the two were also going to the festival.

"So, are the two of you going to the festival as well?" she asked the two just as Hotaru and Yuu arrived on the spot.

Ruka nodded as he petted his rabbit.

"Why don't we all go there together then?" Mikan suggested.

Ruka turned to his friend, waiting for his approval. Natsume shrugged in reply and Ruka took this as a yes.

"Okay than." Ruka said, smiling.

And so, the five friends walked towards the bus stop together. Unfortunately, they came across several of Natsume and Ruka's fan girls who kept on fussing about the two boy's' appearance. Thus, they arrive later than planned since it took them a lot of time and effort to shake off the annoying fan girls.

By the time they arrived at Central Town, it was already 4:45 and the stalls were all ready and all the decorations were already put up. There were different banners and lanterns which were hung, a lot of lively music were being played and crowds of people were already lining the streets, all in their traditional Japanese attire.

"Oh this place is absolutely wonderful!" Mikan exclaimed as her eyes twinkled from excitement.

"Would you shut up you idiot. The festivals here are always the same." Natsume said in a slightly irritated tone.

Mikan glared at him for a moment but then, she stopped.

'Control yourself, Mikan. Don't let him annoy you. Don't let this perfect day be ruined by one snide comment.' she thought to herself as she tried to calm down.

"Mikan-chan, what's wrong?" Yuu asked when he noticed that Mikan was left behind, while standing still. Yuu's question seemed to arouse the interest of the others who started to turn towards the brunette as well.

"Huh?" she asked once she returned to reality. Then she noticed her friends staring at her. She could tell from their looks that they were waiting for an answer.

"Oh, it was nothing! Why don't we check out the shops?" she said as she caught up with them.

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They first checked out a stall which sold different fans. Actually, it was only Mikan who went to pick one from the wide range of designs being sold. The others were just standing there, waiting for her, although she did ask her friends' opinions. After some time, she finally chose one - a round fan which was filled with cherry blossoms. So, she gave twenty-five rabbits to the stall owner and they went on their way.

The next shops they went to were mostly chosen by either Mikan or Yuu. Hotaru chose some of the shops as well and bought mechanical parts for her inventions, food, and some things that were needed for school. Ruka also chose some of the shops. He bought pet food and other stuff his bunny wanted. Natsume on the other hand, didn't choose any store except for one- a comic book stand wherein he bought some manga for him to read.

Then, they came across a jewelry shop. Mikan checked it out and was fascinated by a beautiful white gold necklace which has a heart-shaped ruby-encrusted locket with a fire symbol engraved on it. Unfortunately, it costs 5000 rabbits and she already spent most of her savings on the other stuff she bought. She only had 700 rabbits left and she didn't want to borrow money from her companions since she remembered the warnings her grandfather gave her about borrowing money. Besides, even if her friends did lend her money, she wouldn't be able to pay them back easily. With her allowance, it will still take her months to save enough money in order to pay her loan.

Apparently, the jewelry sold in that shop were expensive since they all hold special powers which came from other people's Alices. That necklace in particular would give protection to the wearer of the locket as well as the other two people who have their pictures placed in the locket.

Mikan felt disappointed that she wasn't able to buy the necklace but she quickly got over her disappointment. However, Natsume and Hotaru seemed to notice it as they glanced towards her but they both shrugged it off since the brunette didn't seem to mind that much.

They spent most of their time browsing and buying stuff from the different shops that they were only able to eat at around 8:30 in the evening. They ate in a seafood restaurant which Hotaru had chosen.

"The food tastes great!" Mikan exclaimed as she popped some crabmeat into her mouth.

"Yeah. It's excellent. They all say that this restaurant serves the best seafood cuisine in all of Japan."

"You know, this restaurant is famous all over the country. It has a lot of branches here in Japan and they say that it's opening branches in other parts of the world." Ruka stated as he gave some shrimp to his rabbit which happily accepted and ate it. Mikan nodded her head in fascination as she listened to her friends' explanations.

Natsume and Hotaru did not join their conversation. For Natsume, it was just natural. He was always like that. He rarely talks. Hotaru on the other hand was busy eating a plateful of crabs, lobsters, oysters and shrimps. With all that she was eating, one would think that she'd be broke by now. However, that wasn't the case since everything that she was eating was free of charge. She had recently received several all-you-can-eat meal tickets for different cafés in Central Town as a reward for her hard work when several people who were amazed by her inventions invested heaps of cash in the academy. One of those meal tickets that she received was for this restaurant, and so, she took the liberty to order practically everything on the menu.

After eating, they went to the different booths prepared for the festival. The booths were stationed on the west side of Central Town. People were crowding over the different stalls. There were different games which they could try out. There was a shooting game, a pie throwing booth, a booth wherein they could try to catch some fish with the use of a thin glass, and many others. There were also some food stalls and there was even a fortune-telling booth.

As Natsume and Ruka tried out the shooting game, Hotaru and Mikan went over to a stall selling sweets to buy some cotton candy with Yuu following them.

"Two cotton candy please." Mikan said once she arrived in front of the stall.

"That would be twenty rabbits, miss." The store owner said as he handed the cotton candy to Mikan. Mikan in turn gave the owner twenty rabbits.

"Here, Hotaru. This is yours. And you don't have to pay me. It's my treat." she said as she gave the cotton candy to her friend.

Hotaru took the cotton candy from Mikan and uttered in a calm voice "It's strange for you to buy me stuff. I'm the one who usually does that."

Mikan took Hotaru's statement as flattery and said while smiling and feeling a little embarrassed "Thanks for your compliment, Hotaru."

Just then, they spotted Yuu.

"Hi Yuu! Oh, do you want some cotton candy too?"

"Oh, no thanks! I'm still full from all that seafood... But thanks for the offer anyway."

"Oh, okay then... Let's go and find Natsume and Ruka then!" Mikan said happily and then ran towards the shooting booth.

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It didn't take much effort for them to find the duo. They were apparently surrounded by their fan girls (which also include Sumire and her friend) who were cooing over them. Although it did take much effort to get through their cheering squad.

"Excuse me. Please let me pass through." Mikan repeatedly uttered as she tried to squeeze through the crowd.

Finally, after struggling hard to pass through the huge crowd of girls, she came upon Natsume and Ruka who were busy competing in the shooting game. Then she noticed the huge pile of stuffed toys they've collected from winning the game.

"Sugoi! You two are really great at this game!" Mikan commented, obviously impressed by her friends' winning streak.

Upon hearing her voice, the two missed their targets at the same time. Everyone was shocked to see that, including Hotaru and Yuu who just arrived beside Mikan, for the duo has never missed a single shot before she arrived. And so, after getting over the shock, all the fan girls. Mikan then tried to defend herself from all the accusations by saying that the whole incident can't be her fault. After all, they were already making a huge commotion even before she arrived so it was unreasonable to say that she was the sole cause of the two boys' distraction. However, no matter what she said, Natsume and Ruka's fan girls weren't soothed. Instead, they became more rabid and cursed the helpless girl even more. Fortunately, before the situation grew out of hand, Ruka came to the brunette's rescue.

"It wasn't her fault that I missed my target. I just got distracted by the…" Ruka started. Upon hearing the blond boy's voice, the fan girls immediately removed their attention from Mikan and directed it towards him.

"Ano… I got distracted by the…" he continued while eyeing his surroundings for anything that could have distracted him.

"I got distracted by… by Usagi. Yeah, he pulled my hair that time so I kinda lost my concentration" he finally said as he gave a quick apologetic look towards the bunny on his shoulder which at first looked appalled but was quickly able to forgive him after understanding his current predicament.

'That was such a dumb excuse. Moreover, I had to give the blame on Usagi. Darn it. I'm such a wimp. To think that I still have to rely on Usagi for an explanation that nobody will believe' Ruka thought as he mentally berated himself for his stupidity. However, contrary to his thoughts, everyone around him seemed to think that his explanation was acceptable except for two people who were now eyeing him with great curiosity. However, the two decided not to pose any question and chose to fix their attention on something else.

Ruka was still deep in though when his bubbly friend suddenly bounced towards him

"Huh?" Ruka said as he finally came back to his senses but he only got startled once again when he saw that Mikan's face was so close to his. His face immediately turned bright red from the sudden proximity.

"Wha-what is it?" he stuttered, feeling all flustered.

"We were just asking you if you'll still be playing because these guys here said that they want to try the shooting game." The brunette asked as she pointed towards a small group of younger boys.

"Uh... No." he replied.

"Oh. Okay then."

Those were the last words he recalled before he drifted back into his deep thoughts.

"That's it!" Ruka suddenly burst out.

"Eh? What's wrong Ruka-pyon?" Mikan asked in utter confusion after hearing the sudden exclamation coming from her friend.

"Ano… It's nothing… Ah… Ano… Ha-happy Birthday, Sa-Sakura-san." Ruka uttered while blushing once again.

Mikan turned her gaze from the boy's flushed face to big pile of stuffed animals he was holding towards her.

"For me?" Mikan asked, sounding really surprised by the boy's gesture.

Ruka nodded, still blushing with his blond bangs covering his eyes. It was obvious to everyone around the vicinity that the poor boy was extremely embarrassed but Mikan, being the naïve girl that she is, was oblivious to this. However, everyone else, especially Hotaru, Yuu and Natsume watched the development with great interest. The three were listening to their conversation intently and the latter had even stopped playing bang began to clench the toy gun that he was holding tightly. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice this strange behavior of the fire caster, not even Hotaru, the most observant of them all for they were all busy watching Ruka and Mikan. Even the fan girls were keeping themselves quiet just so that they could hear the conversation.

"But Ruka... this is too much. And I don't think that they'll even fit my room." The girl said while laughing slightly.

"You can keep one of them and give out the others if you like. It doesn't really matter." Ruka said, now averting his gaze towards the shooting booth.

"Oh okay then. If that's the case then I'll keep this stuffed bunny." she said as she took a pink stuffed rabbit from the pile, hugged it and then beamed at the blushing boy.

"And you should keep this." Mikan said as she handed Ruka the stuffed chick which looked like a small replica of the Giant Piyo.

Ruka could only nod.

And so, Mikan handed out the stuffed animals to everybody else. She each gave one stuffed animal to Hotaru, Yuu, Sumire, and Wakako, Sumire's friend. She even handed the excess to several lucky fan girls. However, Mikan took one last stuffed animal- a cat and went towards Natsume who apparently began to play the shooting game once again just after Mikan and Ruka's conversation.

"Here..." Mikan said as she handed the stuffed cat to Natsume.

Natsume stopped from playing, glanced at Mikan, then at the stuffed cat and then began to shoot his target once again.

"What's that for?" ha asked as he went back to his game.

"Just keep it okay. It's from Ruka so stop complaining."

Natsume seemed to ponder a bit before finally uttering a silent "Whatever."

And so, Mikan left the stuffed cat beside Natsume's own pile. She understood that Natsume already agreed to take the toy with him. She then went back to her other friends while hugging her own stuffed bunny.

"Thanks again, Ruka-pyon!" she exclaimed as she beamed at the boy.

Ruka once again blushed furiously. The only reply he could give her was "Uh, yeah." He was at a loss for words. He knew that if he tried to say anything more than that, he would just end up embarrassing himself in front of the girl and everybody else.

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_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_Just to clarify things, this story is set after the anime, not the manga. If I set this story after the manga, the plot would surely be different. Certain portions have been based from the manga though such as the part wherein it has been discovered that Mikan is actually a multi-Alice user._

_Even after revising this chapter, I still feel utter discontent. I find that the plot of this story is utterly pointless. Certain parts in the story seem dragging and useless but I don't want to remove them because if I do, I might change the whole story and I don't want that. I want it to remain as close to the original as possible so I do wish that you people will understand and bear with me. Anyway, I doubt that people will still read this story. I have been such a neglectful author so I doubt that any of my old readers would still want to read my stories. Moreover, I am also in doubt of my writing skills although I have somewhat improved over the years._

_I really doubt that anyone would read this much less review this story but I would really appreciate if at least one person would. I'll be forever grateful to that person. Nevertheless, expect that whether I receive a review or not would not affect my decision to update this story. Rest assured that this two-sot will be completed in less than a week's time._

**-:-**_Kuroi Tsubasa_**-:-**


	2. Chapter Two

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◦◦ **C**◦ **H**◦ **A**◦ **N**◦ **G**◦ **E**◦◦  
**Chapter Two  
**_By: xll KUROI TSUBASA llx_

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**DISCLAIMER: **Again, I, Kuroi Tsubasa, do not own Gakuen Alice for Tachibana Higuchi already holds that ownership.

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After getting finally getting bored of what he was doing, Natsume left the shooting booth and approached Ruka and the others. However, he stopped walking when the stall owner suddenly called out to him.

"Excuse me young man but what am I going to do with all of these?" the owner asked while gesturing towards the huge pile of stuffed animals that the boy had won.

Without even turning back, the lad simply answered a nonchalant "Do whatever you want." and continued walking.

Upon hearing that, one fan girl boldly asked if she could get one stuffed toy for herself and when the stall owner gave an unenthusiastic yes, the fight over Natsume's supposed prizes ensued.

"Here." Natsume said as he thrust the stuffed cat – the only stuffed animal that he kept with him, onto Mikan's arms while they were walking towards the other booths.

"Eh? Why are you giving this to me?"

When Natsume chose to act as if he didn't even hear her, Mikan got pissed off. Oh how she wanted to just smack the arrogant jerk in the face. Just when she was about to go after the said boy in order to act on her thoughts, someone grabbed her by the shoulders. She immediately turned towards the source of her distraction and saw Yuu offering her a sympathizing smile.

"Mikan-chan, you shouldn't let Hyuuga-san upset you this much. After all, I think that he was only embarrassed to carry that stuffed animal with him. I believe it's hurting his pride" the bespectacled boy explained while chuckling a bit.

"Really? How did you know that?" Mikan asked with interest, her annoyance already gone.

"A-ano… You see Mikan-chan, I ano… sort of feel the same." Yuu answered uneasily causing the brunette to frown a little.

"Gomen ne Yuu. I didn't know that. Ano… Shall I carry that teddy bear of yours instead?"

Her companion shook his head before answering "Unlike Hyuuga-san, my ego can handle this kind of embarrassment. It's not a big deal for me so don't be upset Mikan-chan. You haven't done anything wrong."

"Are you sure?"

Yuu simply nodded with a reassuring smile. Mikan was about to ask something once again when their forgotten companion, Hotaru, suddenly appeared beside them, riding her giraffe-styled vehicle.

"You can put those things here." The raven haired lass said while pointing to the vacant space at the rear end of her vehicle where her own penguin stuffed toy was kept. The two did what they were told and just before she zoomed out of the place once again, Hotaru told them in her deadpan voice that she was going to charge 50 rabbits per stuffed toy.

"Hotaru, you're so evil!" the brunette childishly exclaimed as her money-centric friend disappeared in the crowd.

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After Hotaru came back, the three of them sought to find their other two companions who had gone ahead of them. After a while, they finally spotted them in the pie throwing booth.

"That's so cool! I wanna try out that booth too." Mikan suddenly shrieked in a rather piercing tone which gained annoyed glances and slightly painful eardrums from those around her.

As luck would have it, the moment Mikan cried out in excitement was also the same moment that Natsume was about to take his turn in the booth. Thus, the latter became pissed when his concentration was ruined by the childish girl. It also didn't help that the bat-like shriek that the girl let out gave him a minor headache. And so, instead of landing on the supposed target, the pie hit the face of the said girl.

While bits of cream slowly dripped on the Mikan's face, nobody dared utter a single word for they knew that hell would soon follow. It wasn't a secret to anybody that although Mikan Sakura was usually forgiving and kind-hearted, she wouldn't simply pass off such kind of an act – especially if it was done by her so-called partner, Natsume Hyuuga. As she slowly wiped of bits of cream and fruit from her face and neck, everyone watched her anxiously, readying themselves for a sudden outburst from the young girl. But much to their surprise, the first words that came out of her mouth were spoken calmly, without the slightest trace of irritation marring her voice.

"Does anybody know where the nearest faucet is?"

People simply stared at Mikan in disbelief for they have never seen her display such self-control before. Eventually, Yuu got over his initial shock quicker than the others and offered to lead her to the faucet.

When Mikan was done wiping herself clean, Yuu nervously asked if she was truly alright.

"Oh I'm fine! You just worry too much, Yuu." she said in a voice that sounded genuinely cheerful, causing the mustard-haired lad to believe her instantly. But what he didn't know was that the girl's cheerful words were the exact opposite of what she was really feeling. Deep in her mind, she was imagining ways of torturing her jerk-faced partner while laboriously instructing herself to keep calm and take deep breaths.

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With the two gone, Hotaru, Ruka, and Natsume were left to converse among themselves.

"That was so mature of you, Hyuuga." Hotaru said sarcastically, finally breaking the silence.

Natsume just let out a snort before murmuring a "Mind your own fucking business, Imai"

Upon hearing that, the usually stoic inventor glared him. And Natsume, being a prideful man, thought of this as a challenge and _happily_ glared back.

"You know that if you want to show your affection, there are more intelligent ways of doing so. But then again, I always thought of you as the type who doesn't know them."

A nerve was struck.

"Affection? Where did you get that stupid idea of yours?"

Deadly auras permeated from the two, causing their other companion to sweat profusely. Fortunately, before the two could start killing each other, a chirpy voice interrupted them.

"We're back!"

"Ah. Welcome back. Are you okay now, Sakura-san?" Ruka quickly interjected, still feeling slightly jumpy after seeing that face off between his two raven-haired companions.

Mikan, in turn, replied with a smile and a gleeful nod before turning to chatting with Hotaru and Ruka.

Unbeknownst to her, crimson orbs have been watching her as well.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

Their next stop was the fishing booth (the one wherein you can catch fish with the use of a piece of thin glass). Here, Mikan pathetically failed in all her attempts whereas Ruka immediately caught something in his first trial (probably the effect of his Alice). As soon as the stall owner handed him the plastic bag with the fish in it, he immediately went over to the sulking brunette and gave it to her, saying that it was another one of his presents. Upon hearing that, the formerly sulky girl turned cheerful once again and beamed at him while expressing her gratitude for his great kindness. The blond boy could do nothing but utter a shy "You're welcome" with a red face.

They continued exploring more stalls and booths until it was ten thirty. At that time, the five headed towards the park located at the heart of Central Town for a dance was supposed to be held there. However, just before they entered the park, Natsume decided to part with them.

"Where are you going?" Ruka asked worriedly after asking the others to go on since he still has to talk to Natsume.

"You worry too much. Just go back to the others. I'll be fine." Natsume answered nonchalantly without even looking at his friend.

"But Natsume…"

"You'll see me later."

Those were his last words before he disappeared in the throng of people, leaving Ruka no other choice but to follow the others to the park.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

"So you weren't able to convince him to come, huh."

The boy shook his head.

"So where did he run off to this time?" the brunette beside him asked, concern evident in her voice.

"He went to those trees nearby. I suppose that he wanted some time for himself." Ruka replied in an equally concerned tone while Usagi pointed a sign with the word 'Natsume' towards the direction of the slightly wooded area.

Mikan sighed before uttering an almost inaudible "That loner." in an upset tone. Nevertheless, Ruka heard those two words and looked at her sadly. Mikan Sakura really does have a big heart. Despite all the stupid/mean things that Natsume has done to her that day, she still forgave him felt great worry for him. She has always been like that – a pure hearted person and he admired her for that.

Determined to put that cheerful smile back at the brunette's face, Ruka bravely asked her out for a dance. As expected, the girl beamed at him before saying an enthusiastic "Sure, Ruka-pyon."

With that, the two made their way to the dance area and started to dance like everyone else. In order to keep the mind of the girl occupied and prevent her of thinking of gloomy thoughts once again, Ruka engaged her in light and slightly humorous conversation. Laughter could be heard from the two occasionally as they continued to dance. Once they finally finished dancing, Mikan smiled that radiant smile of her once again.

"Thanks for he dance, Ruka-pyon. And thank you so much for cheering me up."

"You're welcome Sakura-san but it's nothing really. After all, what are… friends for anyway?" Ruka replied suddenly feeling a pang of sadness wash over him as well after the realization that they were friends and that that's all they can ever be.

'Yes, she only looks at me as a friend, nothing more. And we can really never be more since that would be betrayal to Natsume.' were the words that echoed in his mind.

Mikan, who was now back to her optimistic self was oblivious to the emotional turmoil that the boy in front of her was currently experiencing and because of that, she only continued with her rant.

"Really, Ruka-pyon. You just don't give yourself enough credit. You've really done a lot for me today. You made me extremely happy with all the kindness and careful attention that you've showered me today. And if you would really think about it, it's not just today. You've always taken care of me during my whole stay in the academy and I'm so thankful for that. No words can express my gratitude to you and to all our friends.'

With that, Mikan encased the blond boy in a hug which greatly surprised him. But before he could even hug back, the brunette had already let go.

"Thank you so much, Ruka-pyon." were her last words before waving and leaving the male completely whipped.

After dancing with Ruka, Mikan danced with Hotaru and Yuu. She had just finished her dance with their class representative when she spotted her other classmates who wished her a happy birthday. They all chatted for a while before she caught sight of her two sempais closest to her – Tsubasa and Misaki. They were waving at her and within a span of 3 seconds, the two were already by her side, along with her other sempais from Special Ability Class.

"So how's our favorite kouhai on her birthday?" Tsubasa asked with a grin as Mikan wrapped her arms around him.

With that, energetic chatting ensued once again and dancing soon followed. Mikan danced with some of her classmates and sempais. After everything, her classmates and sempais handed her their presents.

"Thank you so much minna-san." That was all she could say before bursting into tears of joy. People then began to comfort her, telling her that she should know better than cry on her birthday. Eventually, everyone had to bid their farewell and she walked towards Hotaru and Yuu who both had excused themselves a moment ago and sat at one of the tables of an outdoor café nearby.

"Hey, why aren't the two of you dancing? Wait, where's Ruka?"

"I told him to get us some noodles. He'll be back soon" Hotaru deadpanned as she sipped on her cup of cappuccino.

Mikan gave the raven-haired girl a quizzical look, urging her to explain further but when the girl refused to elaborated, she turned to Yuu instead.

"Well, you see Mikan-chan, he ah… well Hotaru-chan blackmailed him again."

His answer was met with a sigh and a shaking head.

"Oh Hotaru, you never give the poor guy a break. What did you tell him this time?"

"It's a secret that I won't divulge to idiots."

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

_Mikan, upon seeing her sempais, who she wasn't able to see for able to see for such a long time, was excitedly chatting with them as well as with her other classmates._

"_So this is how one-sided love feels like, huh…" Ruka murmured to himself as he stared at the brunette._

"_Sakura-san…No, Mikan. I really wish that someday I could express these feelings of mine to you. I wish that I would gain the courage in the future to tell you how I really feel. But then again, doing so would be selfish. It would be an act of betrayal to Natsume for he too harbors the same feelings towards you." He finished those words with a sigh and continued to stare at the auburn-haired girl a little while longer, before running his hand through his hair and turning around. Just as he did so, his grief was immediately turned into utter shock for Hotaru was merely a few inches away from him._

"_You creeped me out, Imai-san."_

_The stoic inventor just stared at him with her expressionless eyes._

"_Do you need anything?"_

_His query was answered by his own voice._

"_So this is how one-sided love feels like, huh…"_

_  
A horrified expression dawned on the boy's features._

"_Give that to me."_

"_Why should I? This is perfect blackmail material."_

_Ruka glared at the girl who in turn continued to stare at him blankly._

"_Noodles."_

_The boy's murderous expression instantly melted into that of pure confusion. "Huh? Noodles?" he managed to ask before something was thrown at him. Upon inspecting the object, his eyes instantly widened._

"_Give me noodles in exchange for that. Lots of them." Hotaru deadpanned before turning and leaving the boy in shock._

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

Mikan sighed once again, knowing that it was impossible to obtain any additional information from her best friend, before standing up.

"Mikan-chan, are you going somewhere?"

"Ah… I'll be walking around the park. I'll be back later." the girl answered while twirling a few strands of her auburn hair albeit a bit distractedly.

"She's still a bad liar. That mannerism of hers has always been a dead giveaway." Hotaru muttered before sipping on her cup of cappuccino once again.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

"Why do I even bother to think about him?" Mikan silently chastised herself as she paved her way through several trees. Just as Hotaru suspected, the girl didn't leave them in order to walk around the park. Instead, she was working her way through the trees in order to find a certain crimson-eyed male.

Despite her seemingly irritated façade towards the male, Mikan couldn't deny to herself that she was indeed worried about him. He is her friend after all. Even though he never failed to infuriate her, she knows that deep inside, he's a good kid. She knew that because she has been one of the recipients of his kindness. He had helped her during her most desperate moments. And it wasn't only her. Every single classmate of theirs was important to him. Everything he's doing – all those inhumane missions – are for them. Although he denies this every single time, she knows that he truly cares for them and would choose to die before allowing any of them to get hurt. That is the reason why even though Natsume had been nothing but a complete arse to her all day, she couldn't help but reach out to the lonesome boy. And so, she continued to walk in search for him.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

Back at the park…

To say that Hotaru was irritated was an understatement.

The freaky and agitation-inducing seaweed head who call himself her sempai was persistently and oh-so-exasperatingly pleading her to dance with him.

As if. There's no chance that she'd willingly choose to dance with someone like him. There's no chance in hell.

"Please Hotaru-san. Just one dance. I promise that you won't regret it. In fact, I believe that you'll rather find yourself enjoying the moment. I am a skilled dancer after all. You might even beg me for another dance."

Upon hearing those words, all of Hotaru's remaining self-restraint was immediately thrown out of the window. Even Yuu's nervous warnings couldn't stop her now. She came to a sudden halt and in an instant, her so-called sempai became a wall decoration after receiving _a lot_ of hits from her baka gun. If it weren't for Yuu restraining her, the conceited freak would have been dead by now.

Oh yes, Hotaru Imai is truly scary.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

"Kyaa! I'm lost! Oh no. I'm never gonna find my way out. Nobody's gonna find me. I'll be stuck here forever and eventually die from eating poisoned berries." Mikan said in a panicked voice while starting to hyperventilate.

She had been walking around the trees for a considerable amount of time before she finally realized that she was lost. When she did, she also started to realize that her surroundings had become eerie, causing her to go into her current state of panic.

"I shouldn't have come here. That stupid Natsume; making me worry-" she continued but was cut off when something touched her shoulder.

"KYAA!!" she screamed before pouncing on her would-be attacker.

"Damn it. Get a grip of yourself, you idiot."

After hearing that voice, recognition instantly dawned on her.

"Na-Natsume?"

"Who else? Damn. You scratch like a cat. My body will su-"

Now it was Natsume's turn to be interrupted for the brunette for she tackled him once again but this time it was in the form of a tight hug.

"Y-you… You scared me." she said as she buried her head on his torso. Natsume on the other hand looked at her with a dumbfounded expression before stiffly hugging her back. They stayed like that for a few moments before Mikan pushed herself away.

"Sorry about that." she apologized, feeling heat creep up to her cheeks.

Natsume merely grunted before walking away.

"Hey wait up! Don't leave me alone." the brunette wailed as she followed him through the darkness.

"I can't believe that you're still stupid enough to get yourself lost."

"I did not!"

Natsume merely gave her a disbelieving expression.

"Okay fine! I did. You happy now?"

Before Natsume could reply, they came to a clearing.

"Sugoi… This place is absolutely wonderful." Mikan breathed while gazing wide-eyed at the landscape in front of her. Indeed, the view was wonderful. The moon and the numerous stars in the sky were illuminated in the pond at the center of the clearing. A few animals could also be spotted and were either drinking water from the pond or simply moving about in the area. Lastly, there was also an abundant growth of wildflowers in the area. Truly, the area was spectacular.

"Hey, why is it that you've never told us about this place before?" Mikan asked as she took her eyes off from animals and turned towards her male companion.

Her query was only answered by a soft grunt. Nevertheless, the brunette wasn't put off. After showing her this magnificent view, the least she could do was try to be patient and stop her self from lashing out at him. After all, she knew that Natsume highly valued his privacy. Showing her this private spot of his could be considered a privilege that only rare people could enjoy so she simply sat beside him under one of the many trees surrounding the pond and they sat there in silence.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

After that particular episode with the stuck-up Shouda-_sempai_, Hotaru's temper had taken its turn to the worst. No one was allowed to cross the 2-meter radius that she had marked around herself save for Yuu. And if anybody dared to cross the border, he/she will have to face the wrath of Hotaru Imai's infamous baka gun. And so, in order to ease the situation and make her forget about their recent encounter with the 'conceited seaweed-headed freak' (as Hotaru likes to call him), Yuu decided to engage her in some casual talk.

"Uh… Mikan-chan's been gone for a while, hasn't she?"

At the mention of her best friend's name, Hotaru's eyes softened considerably.

"I do hope that she hasn't gotten herself into trouble. Oh no… What if she got lost? What if-"

However, Yuu's incessant rambling was cut short when the genius inventor finally spoke.

"Don't worry. That idiot is in capable hands."

Yuu gave her a perplexed expression and was about to ask her to elaborate on what she said when someone suddenly turned up in front of them

"N-Nogi-san? What happened to you?" Yuu asked, suddenly feeling worried upon seeing the blond teenager's disheveled appearance. He was panting real hard and his hair was a mess. The haori that he had been wearing earlier that day was now gone and his kimono was also in disarray and had now exposed bits of skin from his right shoulder.

"I – just – got – away – from – them..." Ruka replied while taking deep breaths after each word he uttered. Then, his rabbit flashed a sign which stated 'Rabid fan girls – dance'

"Where are our noodles?" Hotaru asked monotonously, ignoring the boy's fatigue and unkempt looks.

Ruka turned towards her and was about to open his mouth when he heard shrill voices. Horror immediately flashed in his normally calm orbs and without hesitancy, ran away from their table.

"Ruka sure is popular with the girls. And it seems that because Natsume isn't around, his troubles with them has doubled. I guess we won't be getting any noodles from him tonight." Yuu stated with a slight chuckle when a bunch of fan girls stampeded in front of them

Hotaru remained hushed as she looked towards the direction Ruka together with his fan girls ran off to.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

"I used to spend New Year's Eve with my grandpa." Mikan suddenly said out of the blue, thus breaking the silence that had formed around them. Upon hearing this, Natsume gave the girl a sideway glance and when he did, his eyes widened immediately at the sight of tears flowing in the girl cheek.

"I really do miss him. I wish that I could visit him. If… If only I had done my best last year then I… I could have visited him but that's no longer possible. He's… He's gone now and there's no chance that he could return. It's now impossible…" The last statement of hers was spoken in a mere whisper before she finally broke out in sobs and buried her face in her palms. As she did so, all Natsume did was stare at her. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Mikan spoke up again.

"I'm so sorry for breaking down on you like that." Mikan apologized as she let out a dry laugh.

"I'm sure that your grandfather is watching over you right now and I'm also betting that the old man wouldn't want to see you crying so wipe those dumb tears of yours from your ugly face. They make you look uglier." Natsume said as he stood up and made his way towards the water's edge. As he did so, Mikan stared at his back before smiling and wiping off the tears with her handkerchief. She then stood up and followed him, still with that brilliant smile plastered on her face.

"Natsume thank you so-" Mikan began to thank him but was interrupted when the boy suddenly thrust something on her hands before walking away once again.

"Eh? What's this?" Mikan asked as she gave the boy a quick questioning look before returning her attention to the parcel that the said boy had given her. Upon inspection, she saw that it was a small red velvet box with a gold satin ribbon. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that it was a present but in all these years that she had stayed in the academy, the aloof boy had never given her a present so why would he start giving her one? Thinking that it was some kind of prank, she untied the ribbon with much apprehension before hesitantly opening the lid of the box. When she finally saw what was inside of it, a surprised gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened yet again and darted to and fro between the box and the boy who had given it.

"Na-Natsume… I-I…" the auburn haired girl stammered as her eyes locked the content of the box – the ruby-encrusted locket that she had seen earlier and before even realizing it, she had run towards the boy and engulfed him in another one of her bone-crushing hugs.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Natsume." She said with a muffled while still clinging to his back. As soon as she had said those words, fireworks started to light the sky. Then, she let go and turned to face him before giving him a light peck on the cheeks and walking away, leaving him to become the second boy that she had left stunned for that day.

**-:-****-:-****-:-****-:-**

_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_Finally, I've finished revising this chapter. I know that I promised in my profile that I'd update in two day's time at most but unfortunately, I wasn't. I didn't expect that the second chapter would take me longer to update. But I guess it doesn't matter that much. After all, there doesn't seem to be any reader of this story so nobody had to wait. _

_Anyway, as promised, I did my best to stick to the plot of the previous version of this story however I have added certain portion and have deleted the last part of the previous version. But if you want, I could still include it. Just PM me or state it in your review and I shall consider it. I am satisfied with this new ending though. In fact, I prefer this over the other one._

_Oh, and by the way, before I revise the first chapter of "Baffled", I'll first post a one-shot. I suddenly had an epiphany the other day and I thought that it would be fun to write that one-shot before concentrating on my longer story. I do hope that you'll read that new fic. I guess that I'll be done with it in more or less a week's time. I won't promise a sooner release of that story since I don't want you to wait again. Well then, ja ne._

**-:-**_Kuroi Tsubasa_**-:-**


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